Newsgroups Newsgroups This icon indicates that there is a screen capture or animation describing the concept. This icon indicates that there is a sound clip describing the tutorial. Topics covered in this tutorial (click link to jump to topic): 1. Introduction A newsgroup is like an electronic public notice board on a particular subject. Anyone can post a message or read a message. Newsgroups provide a way to communicate with people who share your interests from all over the world. You can read a newsgroup any time and anyone can participate in a newsgroup... though not all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have a news server or offer access to every newsgroup. There are literally thousands of newsgroups covering virtually every topic imaginable - from computers, social issues, literature and science, to recreation, entertainment, hobbies and current affairs. In newsgroups you can find job postings, business and health care advice, announcements about events, referrals, political and religious discussions - even photos you can download. Reading newsgroups is easy. You can use a newsreader that is nested or bundled in your email program although a specialized newseader will allow you to manage the huge volume of information in most newsgroups.

You will need to set up your newsreader. This means "pointing" it at your ISPs news server. You will need to know the name of your ISPs news server. It will look something like news.yourisp.com.au. Categories Newsgroups are divided into categories. The categories help you determine what kind of group and what kind of postings you will find there. For example, alt.bicycle.rec.oz means this is an alternative newsgroup for recreational cyclists in Australia. Be aware that some newsgroups are not for the faint hearted. alt.gay.leather would not be a place to read interesting stuff about spring flowers. Some common examples are: alt. means "alternative" and refers to newsgroups that are alternative (and sometime absurd), or simply that they dont fit into other categories. com. means "computers" and newsgroups proceeded with com. cover areas of interest to computer users or professionals soc. means "social" and cover topics like politics, community groups and social policy talk. Means "talk" and sci. means "science" denotes more discussive newsgroups rec.

means "rec" and proceeds newsgroups that are not work related Subscribing You "subscribe" to newsgroups that interest you. To do this you first get a complete listing of all the newsgroups that are available from your ISP. It takes a few minutes to download because the list of newsgroups is very long - there are over 50,000 newsgroups and rising. Once downloaded to your computer, use the "search" or "find" functions in your newsreader to look for topics that interest you. You can build a list of subscribed newsgroups or just view a newsgroup once. When you subscribe to a newsgroup, your newsreader automatically downloads new messages or "posts" to that newsgroup each time you log onto your ISP's news server. Posting A message on a newsgroup is called a "post" or an "article". It may a response to a previous post or be a new post. People reading the newsgroup can reply to any post and in this way a discussion or "thread" is formed. It is often a good idea to read through a thread before posting your own ideas.

When replying to a post, try to keep the information relevant and to the point. You post a message in much the same way you create a new e-mail message. Click the "Post a new message" or "Compose a new message button", the name of the newsgroup appears in the "To:" line, put in your subject and type your comments or questions and then hit the "Send" or "Post" button. A few minutes later your message will appear in the newsgroup for everyone to see. Similarly, you can forward a message from a newsgroup to a friend using the "Forward" function, or "Rely to the Author" to send your comments or questions directly to original author without your message going back to the newsgroup. Note that some newsgroups are more active than others, just like some IRC channels are more active than others. If you go a newsgroup and there are only a handful of postings there, you are not doing anything wrong, there are just fewer people posting and reading that newsgroup. Also, note the dates of the posts, there is probably no point in posting a reply if the original post is more than a week or so old.

Some people just read the posting to the newsgroup, without posting their own message. This is called "lurking". Flaming Avoid personal attacks or you will be "flamed" by one or more people. A flame is a particularly nasty personal attack on somebody for something he or she has written. It is usually a little hysterical. Dont flame; it is a waste of bandwidth and politeness shouldnt cost anything. There are plenty of articles on "Netiquette" on the web (yes, the Net has its style police as well). What can I use newsgroups for? Newsgroups are an excellent way to find out good web sites to visit in your particular area of interest or just pick up detailed information about your area of interest. You can buy and sell stuff. People often advertise things for sale in some newsgroups. Gauge public opinion or strength of feeling about certain topics or interest Find out detailed information that the mainstream media tend to over simplify The History of Newsgroups Newsgroups had their beginnings in an academic environment in 1979, when a couple of Duke University graduate students connected some computers together to exchange information with the UNIX community.

At the same time, another graduate student at the University of North Carolina wrote the first version of the software used to distribute news. This network, called Usenet, grew into a voluntary, cooperative exchange of "newsfeeds", eventually evolving into electronic discussion groups. While there are some places that charge a fee for the newsfeed, Usenet continues to reflect its origins as an academic project designed to distribute information freely to anyone who wants it. Newsgroups have been around almost since the dawn of the Internet, enabling scientists to post questions (and answers) to other scientists who were interested in the same subject. Today, newsgroups are like virtual coffee houses where people get together to discuss their mutual interests. Except with newsgroups, the communication is written, not verbal. Newsgroups revolve around specific subjects, such as the AFL or organic gardening. Was this tutorial helpful? If so, please support it with a donation >> Chapter 2 - The Internet and World Wide Web Identify the rules of netiquette This chapter introduces one of the most significant innovations of the past half century ï¿½ the Internet. The Internet is defined, and the history of the Internet is detailed.

You discover how the Internet works and learn about Internet service providers and online services, connecting to the Internet, how data travels the Internet, and Internet addresses. The World Wide Web, search engines, and multimedia on the Web are explained. You become familiar with Webcasting, electronic commerce, Web publishing, and other Internet services including e-mail, FTP, Telnet, newsgroups, mailing lists, chat rooms, and instant messaging. Finally, netiquette, the Internet code of acceptable behavior by users, is described. Discuss how the Internet works The Internet is a worldwide collection of networks that links millions of businesses, government offices, educational institutions, and individuals. Data is transferred over the Internet using servers, which are computers that manage network resources and provide centralized storage areas, and clients, which are computers that can access the contents of the storage areas. The data travels over communications lines. Each computer or device on a communications line has a numeric address called an IP (Internet protocol) address, the text version of which is called a domain name. Every time you specify a domain name, a DNS (domain name system) server translates the domain name into its associated IP address, so data can route to the correct computer.

Understand ways to access the Internet You can access the Internet through an Internet service provider, an online service provider, or a wireless service provider. An Internet service provider (ISP) provides temporary Internet connections to individuals and companies. An online service provider (OSP) also supplies Internet access, in addition to a variety of special content and services. A wireless service provider (WSP) provides wireless Internet access to users with wireless modems or Web-enabled handheld computers or devices. Employees and students often connect to the Internet through a business or school network that connects to a service provider. For home or small business users, dial-up access provides an easy and inexpensive way to connect to the Internet. With dial-up access, you use a computer, a modem, and a regular telephone line to dial into an ISP or OSP. Some home and small business users opt for newer, high-speed technologies. DSL (digital subscriber line) provides high-speed connections over a regular copper telephone line. A cable modem provides high-speed Internet connections through a cable television network. Identify a URL The most widely used service on the Internet is the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web (WWW or Web) consists of a worldwide collection of electronic documents called Web pages.

A browser is a software program used to access and view Web pages. Each Web page has a unique address, called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), that tells a browser where to locate the Web page. A URL consists of a protocol, domain name, and sometimes the path to a specific Web page or location on a Web page. Most URLs begin with which stands for hypertext transfer protocol, the communications standard that enables pages to transfer on the Web. Search for information on the Web A search engine is a software program you can use to find Web sites, Web pages, and Internet files. To find a Web page or pages, you enter a relevant word or phrase, called search text or keywords, in the search engineï¿½s text box. Many search engines then use a program called a spider to read pages on Web sites and create a list of pages that contain the keywords. Any Web page that is listed as the result of the search is called a hit. Each hit is a link that can be clicked to display the associated Web site or Web page. Describe the types of Web pages There are six basic types of Web pages. An advocacy Web page contains content that describes a cause, opinion, or idea.

A business/marketing Web page contains content that promotes or sells products or services. An informational Web page contains factual information. A news Web page contains newsworthy material including stories and articles relating to current events, life, money, sports, and the weather. A portal Web page offers a variety of Internet services from a single, convenient location. A personal Web page is maintained by a private individual who normally is not associated with any organization. Recognize how Web pages use graphics, animation, audio, video, and virtual reality Many exciting Web pages use multimedia. Multimedia refers to any application that integrates text with one of the following elements: graphics, sound, video, virtual reality, or other media elements. A graphic is a digital representation of information such as a drawing, chart, or photograph. Two common file formats for graphical images on the Web are JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), which use compression techniques to reduce the size of graphics files and thus speed downloading. Animation is the appearance of motion created by displaying a series of still images in rapid sequence. One popular type of animation, called an animated GIF, uses computer animation and graphics software to combine several images into a single GIF file.

Audio is music, speech, or any other sound. A common format for audio files on the Web is MP3, a popular technology that compresses audio. More advanced Web audio applications use streaming audio, which transfers audio data in a continuous and even flow, allowing users to listen to the sound as it downloads. Video consists of full-motion images that are played back at various speeds. Video files often are quite large in size. The Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) defines a popular video compression standard. Streaming video allows you to view longer or live video images as they are downloaded. Virtual reality (VR) is the use of computers to simulate a real or imagined environment that appears as a three-dimensional (3-D) space. A VR world is an entire 3-D site that contains infinite space and depth. Define Webcasting Pull technology is a method of obtaining information that relies on a client such as your computer to request a Web page from a server. On the other hand, Webcasting, also called push technology, is a method of obtaining information in which a server automatically downloads content to your computer at regular intervals or whenever updates are made to the site.

Webcasting saves time by delivering information at regular intervals and allows users to view Web content when they are offline, that is, when they are not connected to the Internet. Describe the uses of electronic commerce (e-commerce) Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is a financial business transaction that occurs over an electronic network such as the Internet. Today, there are three types of e-commerce. Business to consumer (B-to-B or B2C) e-commerce consists of the sale of goods to the general public. Customers visit an online business through an electronic storefront, which contains descriptions, graphics, and a shopping cart that allows customers to collect their purchases. Consumer to consumer (C-to-C or C2C) e-commerce occurs when one consumer sells directly to another. An online auction is an example of consumer to consumer e-commerce. Business to business (B-to-B or B2B) e-commerce, which is the most prevalent type of e-commerce, takes place between businesses, with businesses typically providing services to other businesses.

Explain how e-mail, FTP, newsgroups and message boards, mailing lists, chat rooms, and instant messaging work A variety of services are used widely on the Internet, including e-mail, FTP, newsgroups and message boards, mailing lists, chat rooms, and instant messaging. E-mail (electronic mail) is the transmission of messages and files via a computer network. You use an e-mail program to create, send, receive, forward, store, print, and delete messages. To receive messages, you need an e-mail address, which is a combination of a username and a domain name that identifies a user. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is an Internet standard that allows you to upload and download files with other computers on the Internet. An FTP server is a computer that allows you to use FTP to upload files to, and download files from, an FTP site. With anonymous FTP, anyone can transfer some, if not all, available files. A newsgroup is an online area in which users conduct written discussions about a particular subject. The computer that stores and distributes newsgroup messages is called a news server.

You use a program called a newsreader to access a newsgroup, read previously entered messages (called articles), and add (post) messages of your own. A thread consists of the original article and all subsequent related replies. In a moderated newsgroup, a moderator reviews articles and posts them, if appropriate. A message board is a popular Web-based type of discussion group that does not require a newsreader and typically is easier to use than a newsgroup. A mailing list is a group of e-mail names and addresses given a single name. To add your e-mail name and address to a mailing list you subscribe to it; to remove your name, you unsubscribe. A chat is real-time (meaning everyone involved in the chat is online at the same time) typed conversation that takes place on a computer. A location on an Internet server that permits users to chat is called a chat room. Some chat rooms support voice chats and video chats, where you can hear or see others and they can hear or see you as you chat. A chat client is a program on your computer that allows you to connect to a chat server and start a chat session.

Instant messaging (IM) is a real-time Internet communications service that notifies you when one or more people are online and then allows you to exchange messages or join a private chat room. Netiquette, which is short for Internet etiquette, is the code of acceptable behaviors users should follow while on the Internet. Rules for e-mail, newsgroups, and chat rooms include: Keep messages brief and use proper grammar and spelling. Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Be polite and avoid offensive language. Avoid sending flames (abusive messages) and spam (unsolicited junk mail). Do not use all capital letters, which is the equivalent of SHOUTING! Use emoticons (such as :) for smile) to express emotion. Use abbreviations (such as BTW for by the way) for popular phrases. Clearly identify a spoiler, which is a message that reveals a solution to a game or an ending to a movie or program. Read the FAQ (frequently asked questions) document. Do not assume all material is accurate or up-to-date. Never read someoneï¿½s private e-mail. The Internet The Internet has had a profound affect on the world of computers.

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates claims, ï¿½The Internet is pervasive in everything weï¿½re doing.ï¿½ The Internet also has assumed an increasing prominence in the world at large. Today, the letters ï¿½wwwï¿½ seem an omnipresent part of advertisements on buses, billboards, and magazines. The Internet, as it is known today, was born in 1983 when ARPANET was split into two interconnected networks: ARPANET and MILNET. The size of the Internet doubled when NSFnet joined the Internet in 1986. The Internet has proven to be a reliable means of transmitting data. Occasionally, however, transmission problems do occur. For 30 minutes in the spring of 1995, all of the traffic destined for MIT was sent through a small wire in Florida, a situation described as equivalent to routing all of the flights bound for Oï¿½Hare to a driveway. Accessing the Internet National ISPs include AT&T, Earthlink, and WorldCom. Two popular OSPs are America Online (AOL) and the Microsoft Network (MSN). Some online services supply specific types of information.

For example, Dow Jones provides financial and business news, and Imagination offers games and entertainment. WSPs include GoAmerica Communications, OmniSky, and SprintPCS. The role of WSP is expected to grow. Industry analysts predict that by 2003, more than 60 million people will use wireless Web-enabled devices to connect to the Internet. The CEO of Amazon.com goes even farther, projecting that in 10 years all Internet connections be wireless. Although most ISPs charge a standard fee for dial-up access, to attract users (who view advertisements on an ISPï¿½s home page) some ISPs now are providing free service. Following this lead, a California-based DSL recently advertised free, high-speed Internet access (a service that usually costs $50 a month) to users who agree to ads aimed at their demographic group. URLs On a Web page, a link is a built-in connection to another related Web page or part of a Web page. A link can be a word, phrase, or image. URLs make it possible to navigate using links, because each link is connected to a URL. When you click a link, the Web site or document associated with the URL is displayed.

Some people refer to this activity of jumping from one Web page to another as surfing the Web. URLs are registered for a standard fee (usually about $70). To acquire an appropriate URL, some companies are willing to spend a great deal more for a URL that already has been registered. Recently, eCompanies paid an entrepreneur $7.5 million for a Web address. This more than doubled the previous record ï¿½ Compaqï¿½s purchase of altavista.com for $3 million. Searching the Web The World Wide Web is an incredible source of information on almost any topic. There are almost 2.5 billion Web pages. Exploring this vast reservoir for the answer to a search engine userï¿½s query, which usually is expressed in just a few keywords, is a daunting task. No wonder an engineering head at AltaVista described search engines as a combination of ï¿½wizardry and witchcraft.ï¿½ Often, simple search queries yield an overwhelming number of results. This is attributed to several factors: The limitations of search engines. A query about mustangs on the American plains might produce results involving Southern Methodist University's football team and the Ford car. The nature of queries.

While a traditional researcher, such as a librarian, uses queries averaging 14 words, the typical Internet query is just over one word. The creators of Web pages. Developers of commercial Web pages sometimes distort results by repeating frequently requested keywords in the background, where spiders see them but people do not. Despite these difficulties, search engines are among the most popular sites on the Web. When choosing a search engine, experts suggest that novice users, and users looking for obscure information, turn first to the larger search engines (AltaVista, Yahoo!, Lycos, and so on) because they are easiest to use and cast the largest net. Types of Web Pages Advocacy Web pages established for political candidates, called ï¿½e-campaigning,ï¿½ has become an important part of politics. Surveys show that more than 50 percent of Internet users turn to the Web for information about political topics. Business/marketing Web pages used for shopping on the Internet are increasingly popular. In 1999, 17 million households shopped online. This figure is expected to grow to 49 million by 2004.

A survey of back-to-school shoppers 34 years old and younger showed that 17 percent planned to shop online for their childrenï¿½s school needs. Perhaps more significant, only 6 percent of surveyed shoppers reported being uncomfortable with buying on the Internet. Educational institutions frequently publish informational Web pages. Today, most colleges have Web sites that offer course descriptions, information about the student population, and registration costs and deadlines. When shopping for college, surveys show that high school seniors use the Web more than catalogs or guidebooks; about 80 percent of college-bound students start looking at college Web sites as sophomores. News Web pages are the most popular Web sites among Americans with access to the Internet. Although these Web sites often are associated with newspapers, magazines, television stations, or radio stations, some are published only online, without a related print or broadcast media. Portal Web pages often offer the following free services: search engine, news, sports and weather, free personal Web pages, reference tools, shopping malls, e-mail, instant messaging, newsgroups, and chat rooms. The dictionary defines a ï¿½portalï¿½ as a door or gateway. Portal Web pages are gateways to a host of services.

Personal Web pages sometimes use Web cams to provide minute-by-minute views of life in a dorm room, an apartment, a new-born babyï¿½s crib, or even the inside of a refrigerator. One devotee of these personal Web pages says visitors often develop a sort of ï¿½relationshipï¿½ with the Web page developer. Perhaps this observation is true; some personal Web pages receive more than 1,000 hits a day. How Web Pages Use Multimedia Multimedia can bring a Web page to life, increase the types of information available on the Web, expand on the Webï¿½s potential uses, and make the Internet a more entertaining place to explore. Because Web pages with multimedia take longer to download, most browsers allow users to turn off some multimedia elements (such as graphics) and show a text-only version, speeding the display of a Web page. Choose a topic for a Web page, such as your school or your class. How could multimedia enhance the page? What multimedia elements would you use? How? Webcasting Some people use Webcasting to download copyrighted material, such as music, from Web sites.

Many young, unknown musicians see music Web sites as a way to gain exposure, but some already-popular musicians see sharing music on Web sites as little more than theft. The heavy metal rock band Metallica sued Napster (a music Web site) for copyright violations. A number of colleges have placed a ban on music Web sites. These schools maintain that students downloading and sharing music creates a tremendous amount of traffic, clogging the schoolï¿½s computer systems. As a result, the schools are using filtering software to deny access to music Web sites. Several student groups have formed to protest this response. E-Commerce Today, more than 50 percent of Web sites are commercial. Online product sales total more than $6 billion, which represents a twelve-fold increase in just five years. These numbers should be kept in perspective ï¿½ in 1999, e-commerce still represented only 0.5 percent of U.S. consumer spending. Business to consumer e-commerce often allows buyers to purchase directly from businesses, eliminating the middleman and thus providing goods and services at lower costs.

Other advantages of e-commerce include: twenty-four hour access lower product display and storage costs reduced salesperson costs Businesses advertise with their own Web site or on another companyï¿½s Web site. The most successful Web advertisements are on popular sites, such as search engines. In terms of audience, advertising on the Web is expensive. The cost to reach 1,000 consumers is about $75 on the Web, $60 in a newspaper, $44 in a magazine, and $5 on television. Yet, Web advertisements do offer advantages: Unlike traditional media advertising, which is passive (and often ignored by the audience), Web advertising is interactive. The audience expresses an interest in the product by clicking a hyperlink and choosing to view a Web ad. For many products, Web users are the ideal customers. Web users tend to be students or highly educated consumers in their late 30s, with average incomes of about $55,000. What products could benefit most from advertising on the Web. Why? Web Publishing Deciding upon the purpose of the Web site and the audience for whom it is intended will make it easier to determine what should and should not be included on the Web site. Web publishing is an increasingly commonplace Internet activity.

With the assistance of word processing packages, Web page authoring software, or Web sites that assist in the creation of Web pages, even elementary school children are developing personal Web pages. Internet Services It is estimated that the number of e-mail users has increased 300 percent during the past five years, and the number of e-mail messages sent per day has increased 400 percent. While its growth has been phenomenal, not everyone is happy with e-mailï¿½s ever-increasing use. In a business setting, some feel that e-mail can be counter-productive. They contend that employees spend too much time writing and reading e-mail on inconsequential topics ï¿½ subjects they never would commit to paper. In a social setting, some wonder if e-mail is fitting in every situation. Although e-mail is suitable for casual messages, most believe it is inappropriate for more serious or formal communication, such as a wedding invitation. How do you feel about these reservations regarding e-mail? Many files on anonymous FTP sites are public domain software, freeware, or shareware. Public domain software is not copyrighted and therefore can be distributed at no cost. Freeware also is available at no cost but, because it is copyrighted, it cannot be resold.

Shareware can be downloaded and tried for free, but a license fee must be paid if the software is kept. Shareware users who pay the license fee may receive a manual, notification of new releases or tips, and access to technical support. The quality of freeware, public domain software, and shareware varies greatly. The real-time character of chat makes chat rooms different from newsgroups or mailing lists. The extent to which a chat room is monitored varies. In some chat rooms, particularly those aimed at adults, a monitorï¿½s presence hardly is noticed. Chat rooms intended for minors, however, often are monitored closely. Chat rooms can be an invaluable experience for children, letting them share thoughts and ideas with people their own age from around the country, or even around the world. Yet, to ensure that content is appropriate, parents may want to oversee a childï¿½s first few chat room visits. Netiquette Netiquette can be applied to all aspects of the Internet. Which netiquette rules are most important? Which rules are least important? Why? What rules, if any, would you add?

In her book, Guide for the Turn-of-the-Millennium, syndicated columnist Judith Martin (Miss Manners) offers guidelines for use of the Internet and other technological innovations. Web sites such as also offer advice on Internet manners. NewsReaders.com: What are Newsreaders and Newsgroups? NewsReaders.com: What are Newsreaders and Newsgroups? I hope you will try Giganews or UsenetServer for your news subscription -- especially as a holiday present for your friends, family, or yourself! Need a Usenet account? Join Newsdemon Newsgroups! What are Newsreaders? Why would you want one? What are newsgroups and Usenet? Newsreaders are programs that let you read newsgroups, thus I will start by defining them. Newsgroups are forums for discussion that are most comparable to e-mail lists, except that the messages go to the public (unless the group is a local group) and one does not need to be subscribed, in the mailing list sense, to participate.

For example, if there is a group called "rec.widgetmaking" (a group for widget making enthusiasts) that you are interested in, you would tell your newsreader to subscribe you to that group. (You would find the group by looking or searching through the full list of newsgroups on your server, or perhaps a friend also interested in widget making told you about the group.) This has no impact on the group itself, it just tells your newsreader to put that group on your subscribed list. Your newsreader program then makes this group more accessible and stores information about which messages you have already read, etc. When you open this newsgroup to read, there should be a bunch of messages from various people. (If not, see if your newsreader has a command for loading all messages in a group; some newsreaders seem to default to showing no messages for a group newly subscribed to, as opposed to showing all messages still on your news server). You should have something that looks somewhat like a mailbox in your e-mail program. You can read these messages just like e-mail messages. The difference is that the message is not addressed to you. It is addressed to "rec.widgetmaking".

Similarly, if you choose to post a message in response to a message you are reading, you need to decide (and be careful) whether to reply (or "followup") to the newsgroup, reply to the author (almost all newsreaders have ability to send e-mail messages), or both. (This can be a "netiquette" question. If someone is asking advice, I tend to respond to both the group and the person. But there are times when it is best to take things off the group, and there are some people who prefer not to get responses in their mailbox, since they will see the response in the group anyway.) That is the main difference between newsgroups and mailing lists. Whereas mailing lists get e-mailed to a certain group of people and the messages exist only in their mailboxes, newsgroup posts get sent to your news server, which then forwards it to news servers around the world (except for newsgroups which only exist on your local server, called local groups). Usenet is the main source of newsgroups. Just as ABC is a source of television programming, Usenet is a source of newsgroups and newsfeeds.

Sometimes people refer to Usenet as newsgroups and vice versa, but strictly speaking, this is incorrect. First, there are other sources of newsgroups that are widely distributed. For example, Clarinet is carried by many ISPs and subscription-based newsfeeds . Second, there are many semi-private newsgroups that are not propogated beyond their own server. You need to point your newsreader to that server rather than the one you normally use; in some cases anyone is allowed to access the newsgroups on that server, but in other cases one needs a password to access the server. Why would people want to use newsgroups instead of mailing lists? The best answer is to just try newsgroups and see if you like using them. No law that says everyone has to prefer it. But some people prefer not having messages arriving by e-mail all the time. Others prefer being able to drop in on groups when they feel like it, rather than feeling they have to read every message. One nice thing about newsgroups are that if you use a "threaded" newsreader, then the messages show up in logical order; replies to a post show up after that post, usually in a collapsible thread.

Lastly, you should be aware of the difference between "online" and "offline" newsreaders. Online newsreaders assume you maintain an Internet connection during the time the program is running. When you run the newsreader, it polls the server to see how many new messages there are in the groups to which you are subscribed. You can then enter a group, and the newsreader downloads just the message headers, and you see what looks like a mailbox. The messages themselves, however, are not on your machine. As you access a particular message, the newsreader gets it from the server. When you are done reading a message, it is not stored on your machine, unless you save it specifically. Offline newsreaders, on the other hand, connect to the server, download all new messages for the newsgroups to which you are subscribed, upload any posts you wrote since the last time you connected to the server, and then disconnect. You can then read the messages as you wish, composing replies and new posts to be uploaded next time you choose to connect. Lastly, a word about expiration. Given that newsgroups are perpetual, how do you wade through all the posts? You don't.

The news server "expires" posts after a certain amount of time, determined by the person running the server. Could be 2 days, 7 days, or whatever that person wants. So the first time you enter a newsgroup, or if you use your newsreaders command to access all articles on the server, you are just getting the unexpired posts. See also: Internet Gurus - What Are Usenet Newsgroups? Notice: Undefined variable: Date in /usr/local/www/ngc/usenet/index.phtml on line 8 Internet Gurus - What Are Usenet Newsgroups? All the News That Fits, and Considerably More as Well Mailing lists are an OK way to send messages to a small number of people, but they're a lousy way to send messages to a lot of people. For one thing, just maintaining a big list with thousands of people is a lot of work, even if you automate most of it with something like LISTSERV. (On a large list, every day a few of the addresses will go bad as people move around and system managers reconfigure addresses.) For another, just shipping the contents of messages to thousands and thousands of addresses puts a huge load on the system that sends them out.

We have some suggestions about how to find the newsgroups that discuss the topics you are interested in. Usenet news (also known as net news) solves that problem and creates a whole host of others. Usenet is a very large distributed bulletin board system. The principle is quite simple: every Usenet site ships a copy of all of the messages (which in news-speak are called articles) it has received to all of its neighbors several times a day. (Each article includes is a list of sites it's already been to, to avoid wasted effort.) It's sort of a global game of ``whisper down the lane.'' Different links run at different speeds, but for the most part news items slosh around to nearly every directly connected usenet site within a day or two after it is sent. Most ISPs run a news server -- a computer that stores the articles posted to the major newsgroups, waiting for you to read them. There are three Important News Skills to learn: How to read the news in which you are interested. How not to read the news in which you aren't interested, since there is far more news sent out every day than any single human could ever read. How to send out news items of your own.

(Definitely optional.) Where did Usenet come from? North Carolina, originally, where two students came up with the first version in 1980 to run on a couple of UNIX machines. Their original version, now known as A news, seemed pretty cool because it could transfer as many as a dozen articles a day from one machine to another, using a protocol called uucp, a klunky but reliable communication program that comes with all UNIX systems. Within a few years the network had spread to several other universities and several software companies, using a completely rewritten version called B news. Usenet was enough of an established thing that it was featured in an article in a UNIX theme issue of Byte magazine in October 1983, which in boasted that there were over 500 news sites. (My site was called ``ima'', near the upper right hand corner of the network map on page 224.) In the ensuing decade, Usenet has grown like a disease. There are now over 30,000 sites that send news out, and probably at least that many more that just listen. Many of the original dialup links have been replaced by Internet network links using a protocol called NNTP for NetNews Transfer Protocol.

(And you thought that all acronyms were obscure.) The volume of news has increase from a few hundred articles per day in 1983 to 30,000 articles, over 50 megabytes of text per day now, and the net is still growing. A lot of sites are still using B news even though its authors officially condemned it as obsolete more than five years ago. Current news systems include C news which is a complete rewrite of B news to be faster and more maintainable, and INN which is a new version designed to work well in Internet networked environments. Fortunately, they all work pretty much the same way so for the most part you don't have to worry about which version you're using. Being a news groupie Every day, over 20,000 articles will appear at a typical well-connected news machine. To make it possible to sort through this mass of stuff, all items are assigned to news groups which are rough topic headings.

There are tens of thousands of newsgroups in all, ranging from the staid and technical (computer data communications, for example), to the totally goofy (urban legends, like the one about the poodle in the microwave.) Most news users pick a small number of groups to read and ignore the rest. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to any groups physically received by your machine very easily (unlike getting on and off mailing lists, it just requires an update to a local file), so many people start reading a group, look at a few articles, and then stop reading it if it looks boring. Or depending on how much time you plan to spend reading news, you may add a lot of groups when you're less busy, and drop all but the ones directly related to work when the crunch hits. (I suppose in theory you could stop reading news altogether, but that's sort of like stopping drinking coffee altogether--too painful to contemplate.) The Newsgroup Thicket If you're eager to start using news, you can skip this section and come back to it later when you want to refine your news reading skills. Newsgroup have multi-part names separated by dots, with names like comp.dcom.fax (a group about fax machines and fax modems).

The plan is that there are hierarchies of groups. That just means that first part of the name describes the general kind of group. When there are a bunch of related groups, they have related names, so for example all of the groups having to do with data communication are filed as comp.dcom.something. These are the top-level names of the ``official'' hierarchies which are distributed to nearly every news site: comp: Topics having something to do with computers. Lots of fairly meaty discussions. sci: Topics having something to do with one of the sciences, also fairly meaty. rec: Recreational groups, about sports, hobbies, the arts, and other fun endeavors. soc: Social groups, both social interests and plain socializing. news: Topics having to do with net news itself. There are a few groups that everyone should read with introductory material and the occasionaly important announcement. Otherwise not very interesting unless you're a news weenie. misc: Miscellaneous topics that don't fit anywhere else. (The ultimate miscellaneous group is called misc.misc). talk: Long arguments, frequently political. Widely considered totally uninteresting except to the participants. There are also lots of less widely distributed sets of groups which are mentioned in the next chapter.

Regional groups All of the mainstream groups are (in theory at least) of interest to people regardless of where they live. But there are a lot of topics which are quite specific to a particular place. Say you lived near Boston and wanted suggestions about restaurants where you can take small children and not be snarled at. (This topic actually came up recently.) Although there are newsgroups in the rec hierarchy that discuss food, since most of the readers are nowhere near Boston, you're likely to get more snappy comments than useful responses. (Like, someone in Texas might note that if you don't mind driving to Dallas for dinner, you can find one there.) Fortunately, there are local and regional groups for local and regional discussions. There is an ne hierarchy for topics of interest to New England including groups like ne.food which is just the place to ask about kiddie restaurants.

(The answer, by the way, turned out to be practically any ethnic restaurant, and one yuppie place in the suburbs which makes a big deal about having an annex featuring hot dogs and babysitters so Mom and Dad can eat their fancy meal in elegant silence.) There are state and regional hierarchies for most places that have enough usenet sites to make it worthwhile: ny for New York, ba for the San Francisco bay area, and so forth. Universities and other organizations big enough to have their own Usenet communities often have hierarchies of their own, like mit for M.I.T. Many companies have their own local set of newsgroups for announcements and discussions about company matters. For example, at a software company where I used to work, every time someone logged in a change to one of our programs, the description of the change was sent out as a local news item, so everyone else could keep up with what was changing. Naturally, local company groups are only sent around within the company. Ask around to find out what organization or regional groups your system gets, since it's basically up to your system manager to decide what to get. Reading Newsgroups OK, after all this introduction you're probably dying to try out news for yourself.

Usenet is designed so that anyone who wants to can write a new newsreading program, so a lot have people have done so. Here are your best bests: Outlook Express: The e-mail program that comes with Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows 2000 also handles Usenet newsgroups. To start reading newsgroups, click the Read News icon (if it appears), or choose Go | News. If you didn't configure Outlook Express to know about your ISP's news server when you first ran Outlook Express, it'll ask you about it now. Then you'll see a list of available newsgroups, and you can choose some. When you have subscribed to some newsgroups, they appear listed down the left side of the Outlook Express windows, along with your mail folders. Netscape Newsgroups or Collabra: Netscape Communicator, the suite of programs that includes the popular Netscape Navigator web browser, includes a newsreader, too. Older versions of Communicator call it Collabra (strange name!), and newer versions call it Newsgroups (logical name, we thought).

Choose Edit | Preferences from the menu, and choose the Mail & Newsgroups category to tell Netscape about your ISP's news server. Then choose Communicator | Newsgroups (or Communicator | Collabra) to run the newsreader program. Trn : If you use a UNIX shell account , you need a UNIX shell newsreader, and trn is our favorite. What is Usenet? back to the PersonalINN homepage What is Usenet? Usenet is a worldwide discussion system distributed mainly (but not exclusively) over the Internet (its formation actually predates the Internet). It consists of thousands of publicly accessible so-called newsgroups each of which deals with a specific topic. Everyone can post messages (or news articles, as they are called) to any of these groups and read what others have posted. Everyone even can - observing certain rules - create a new newsgroup dealing with a new topic. Newsgroups are hierarchically structured. There are general top-level hierarchies such as comp (for computing), soc (for social) etc. There is a special top-level hierarchy alt (alternative) that is less regulated than the others with respect to creating new newsgroups. Hierarchy levels are separated by dots.

For instance, comp.sys.next.software is a newsgroup that deals with software for the NeXT computer system. To make sure that only on-topic messages are posted, some newsgroups (by reader decision) are moderated. Messages posted to moderated groups are not directly distributed but automatically emailed to the moderator of the group, who decides if the message will appear in the newsgroup. If you are new to Usenet, you should read the group news.announce.newusers which contains regular postings with information for new users. Especially important are postings such as A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community and Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette that deal with the so-called Netiquette, i.e. common rules about how to communicate with others via Usenet. Usenet and the Internet Usenet is a service on the Internet, as are Email, FTP or the WWW. However, it has a different communication structure. With Email, two persons communicate privately, just as they would on phone or with regular mail. WWW has a classical vendor-consumer structure: there is one active information vendor who offers on its (public or non-public) website information or services which can be used by passive consumers.

In contrast, Usenet is public and egalitarian. There is no asymmetry between vendors and consumers. Every participant in Usenet is both reader and contributor. In this respect, Usenet, more than the other services, is what the Internet is really about. In keeping with this spirit of equality and free communication, the software which sustains Usenet is is mostly free software. Technical realization The different communication structure of Usenet implies a different technical realization. Email and WWW/FTP both have a point-to- point structure. For Email, the Internet simply connects two computers: Similarly, with WWW or FTP, many computers connect to one central computer - the (WWW / FTP) server - with a point-to-point connection each: This centralized model makes no sense for Usenet, where hundreds of thousands of messages per day are posted from all parts of the world and read in all parts of the world. A message posted from someone in New York should be accessible directly in New York for all those people in New York who want to read it.

Therefore, Usenet is realized as a worldwide net of news servers which distribute the news messages among each other: (Note that this diagram is schematic and news servers are actually connected with several other news servers in an arbitrary way, not in a cyclic structure.) Someone wishing to post a message to Usenet connects with a news server close to her. This news server receives the article and labels it with a message ID that is guaranteed to be unique on the whole Usenet (by combining the (unique) Internet address of the news server with a character sequence that the news server makes sure is locally unique). Then the news server propagates the message to news servers in its neighborhood, which propagate them to still more news servers, etc. In this way, within hours the message is spread worldwide and can be read on all news servers. To prevent the message from being sent to news servers where it's already stored, each news server enters its name in the Path: header of the message ; a news server won't propagate a message to another news server whose name is already included in the Path: header of the message. The software you use on your own computer to connect to a news server near you and to read and post news messages is called a newsreader.

As long as your own computer is permanently connected to a local network that contains a news server , this is no problem. However, if you have to connect to a news server of an Internet service provider over a phone line, you can only read or post news messages as long as you're online. Besides, because of the sheer number of newsgroups and messages, an Internet service provider, who has to carry all newsgroups on its server, may possibly store messages no longer than three or four days - maybe too short a time for you to read all those you're interested in. This is where PersonalINN comes in. It is a full-fledged news server for your own computer. When you connect to the Internet, it will automatically exchange new news articles in all newsgroups you're interested in with the news server of your Internet service provider and will store the incoming articles on your local computer for as long as you want. There, you (and everyone else on your local computer or network) can read them with a newsreader of your/her choice, and post articles yourself, without a connection to the Internet.

Nwesgroups Newsgroups Newsgroups and Communicating Along with e-mail, newsgroups are one of the oldest communication methods on the Internet. But there are many ways to communicate on the Web. You probably use more than one method, depending on your needs. Let's take a look at the different methods and when you might use them: E-mail - By far the most popular means of communicating over the Internet, e-mail allows you to send a message directly to another person or group of people. Messages can range from short to long and may include quotes or attached files. You can learn more about e-mail in the article How E-mail Works. E-mail is most effective when: You don't need an immediate answer. You are communicating with a single person or specific group of people. You know with whom you wish to communicate. You need to attach a file or provide extensive information. Chat - Chat is a conversation between two or more people that takes place in a chat room. The chat room software allows a group of people to type in messages that are seen by everyone in the "room." Chat rooms can be found all over the Internet, including on the America Online service and the Web site TalkCity.com.

Chat is most effective when: You need an immediate answer. You want to communicate with more than one person. You can communicate in brief messages the information you need to know or wish to provide. You want to meet new people. Instant messages - Instant messaging is something of a cross between chat and e-mail. It allows you to maintain a list of people that you wish to interact with. You can send messages to any of the people in your list, as long as that person is online. Sending a message opens up a small window where you and your friend can type in messages that each of you can see. Instant messages are most effective when: You need an immediate answer. You only need to communicate with a single person or small group. You know with whom you wish to communicate. You need to communicate in real time. Newsgroup - As stated earlier, a newsgroup is a continuous public discussion about a particular topic. Newsgroups are decentralized, which means that the messages are not maintained on a single server, but are replicated to hundreds of servers around the world. Newsgroups are most effective when: You don't need an immediate answer. You want to communicate with more than one person.

You want to communicate with a group of people interested in the same topic. You need or want to provide extensive information about that topic. Forum/Discussion Board - Forums and discussion boards are very similar to newsgroups, with one major difference: Most forums and discussions boards are kept on a single server maintained by the owner or originator of the forum or discussion board. Forums or discussion boards are most effective when: You don't need an immediate answer. You want to participate in a community that is discussing a particular topic. You need or want to provide extensive information about that topic. Listserv - Most of us probably belong to one listserv or another. Every time you register for a newsletter, such as the free HowStuffWorks newsletter, you are placed on a listserv. Basically, this is a type of broadcast e-mail. Information on a listserv is sent to everyone who is listed in the e-mail group on the server. The biggest difference between a listserv and a newsgroup is that listservs are not interactive. Listservs are most effective when: You don't need an immediate answer. You want or need regularly updated information about a particular topic. You want to receive information from a group of people interested in the same topic.

Conferencing - Conferencing is like a chat room on steroids. The conference software, such as Microsoft Netmeeting, allows you to have a real-time chat with one or more other users. It also allows you to do such things as share an electronic whiteboard or a software application. Most conferencing-software packages provide several means of communication, including text only, audio and even video. Conferencing is most effective when: You need an immediate answer. You want to communicate with more than one person. You can communicate in brief messages the information you need to know or wish to provide. You want to attach files or use the whiteboard function in addition to sending and receiving traditional text messages. IP Telephony - Another emerging communications technology is IP telephony, which uses the Internet in much the same way that a regular telephone uses a phone line. Most IP telephony software requires that each person who wishes to talk have a computer, Internet connection and special software. But some companies, such as Net2Phone, provide software that allows you to call someone directly over the Internet and connect to that person's normal phone. IP telephony is most effective when: You need an immediate answer. You have the appropriate equipment (speakers, sound card and microphone).

The information you are providing or requesting is easier to convey through talking than through text messaging. Most of the methods described above require some type of client software on your computer. In most cases, the client software is either free or integrated with another software application. For example, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Outlook Express each includes a newsgroup reader client that you can use to subscribe to newsgroups. We'll talk more about subscribing to newsgroups later. Newsgroup Terminology. Newsgroups use a lot of special terms to describe the newsgroup process: Usenet - The primary exchange and listing of newsgroups Feed or Newsfeed - The group of messages that make up a single newsgroup, sent from one server to another server or to a subscriber Posting - Entering a message into a newsgroup Posts or Articles - The messages that are entered into a newsgroup Thread or Threaded discussion - A post and the series of messages replying to it Hierarchies - Category information provided in the name of the newsgroup Newsgroups are categorized according to interest. The name of the newsgroup provides the category information, going from general to specific (left to right).

For example, comp.lang.java.programmer is a newsgroup for Java programmers, in the Java section of the language category, which is part of the overall computer category. Big Eight - Usenet's original eight newsgroup categories Now, there are thousands of newsgroups in hundreds of categories, but Usenet originally divided newsgroups into one of eight major categories: comp (computers) news (news and current events) rec (recreational) Newsgroups and Blogs - Encyclopedia - Business Terms | Inc.com Newsgroups and Blogs Related Terms: Electronic Bulletin Boards Newsgroups are online discussion groups that deal with a variety of topics. A common analogy used to describe newsgroups is "online bulletin boards." All newsgroups were originally part of a worldwide network of discussion groups known as Usenet. No one organization "owns" or manages Usenet—it is a self-regulating community of an estimated 30,000 newsgroups, but the exact number is not known since these groups are not regulated by any single entity. Each newsgroup is comprised of a group of users who post public messages or articles to that group.

These articles are then organized by subject category and tagged with a standard set of labels for the purpose of distribution from site to site. Each host site pays for its own transmission costs. Newsgroups differ from discussion lists in that discussion lists are generated via e-mail while newsgroups require a special newsreader software in order to read and post messages. Like discussion lists, newsgroups can be active forums for the exchange of ideas and information, providing a small business with opportunities for networking, learning more about the industry and competition, and marketing and sales possibilities. Newsgroups also tend to be noncommercial (although commercial newsgroups do exist), so it is crucial that participants become aware of a group's purpose, makeup, and rules of etiquette. Newsgroups are both moderated and unmoderated. A moderated newsgroup is monitored by an administrator who may screen posts to the group, on the basis of appropriateness of content. An unmoderated group is, obviously, not monitored. Articles posted by users appear "as is." Prior to joining or posting to a newsgroup, review its file of frequently asked questions, also known as an FAQ.

In addition, some newsgroups will have a charter, which establishes the newsgroup's purpose and general rules. Both the FAQ and the charter can be helpful in selecting a newsgroup in which to participate. Usenet does not allow commercial messages, and no advertising is allowed for most individual newsgroups. However, business newsgroups generally welcome and encourage commercial discussions, such as debate over products and services, and are useful for this purpose. Commercial information such as product announcements and price lists are commonplace here, providing a small business with the opportunity for free exposure without benefit of a Web site. The entire archive of Usenet discussion groups dating back to 1995 is now available online from its new host, Google Groups which may be reached at the Web address: HOW TO USE NEWSGROUPS Participation in a newsgroup requires a special type of software known as a newsreader. For most Internet users, this is a part of a Web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. If you do not have a Web browser, you may need to acquire a newsreader. Check with your Internet service provider (ISP) for more details.

Other computer basics, which may be helpful in using newsgroups, are the concepts of a signature file (.sig) and a plan file (.plan). A signature file is a small file of text which automatically appends to the bottom of all outgoing e-mail messages. At the minimum, a signature file should include an individual's name, company name, and contact information, including e-mail address and URL. The signature file can also be used as a brief advertisement for a company. The key is to keep it short and to the point in order to prompt the reader each time he or she reads your messages. The signature file will then be appended to any message you post on a newsgroup. A plan file (also called .plan or dot plan, plan.txt, or .profile) is a small information file which is automatically sent to other Internet users in response to a utility command called a "finger." Usually, information sent in response to a finger is comprised of the account owner's name, login name, and some login details such as time of last login. You can provide a more detailed response to a finger by creating a plan file. Some ideas for inclusion in a plan file are the type of business, price and product information, and contact information.

Contact your ISP or the maker of your Web browser for more details. Before using any newsgroups, begin by determining those newsgroups which may be helpful to your business and to which your company or product may be of interest. To ensure the newsgroup to which you wish to post allows these types of posts, be sure to check the newsgroup's FAQ or file of frequently asked questions. Monitoring the newsgroup for a period of time prior to posting is also recommended, in order to ensure you are reaching the correct audience and not ruffling any feathers. To identify appropriate newsgroups, use the domain or label found in the first part of the name. Business newsgroups are found under the biz. domain or label; for example, biz.imports might be a business newsgroup comprised of importers. Other newsgroups can serve as sources of information about computers and software (comp.), the Internet and networks (news.), and so on. USING A NEWSGROUP FOR FUN AND PROFIT Newsgroups can be an inexpensive method for a small business to learn more about its industry and competition, gain opportunities for networking, and generate marketing and sales possibilities. Newsgroups can be a useful source of information about competitors.

By reviewing postings and signatures and "fingering" plan files, a small business can determine who its competitors are and get a leg up on new product offerings. This information can also help a business to anticipate trends in the industry as well as to monitor related industries. According to Jill and Matthew Ellsworth, authors of The New Internet Business Book, newsgroups are "popular for postings of business networking opportunities, including opportunities to form business partnerships." For a small business looking to expand, newsgroups offer the kind of information distribution that normally only big money can buy. The Ellsworths suggest that prior to posting a message with commercial content, a small business user should begin by participating in a discussion with well reasoned and to the point comments. This can secure a business's standing in the newsgroup and generate interest within in further posts. The unobtrusive use of a signature or .sig with each message provides an opportunity for other individuals and businesses to make contact with the small business, without including commercial content in the message. Commercial posts to a newsgroup should be short and to the point. Use the subject line to clarify the topic of the post.

This will allow other users of the newsgroup to determine if the post is of use to them. Phaedra Hise, author of Growing Your Business Online, recommends keeping language simple and without "sales" emphasis, such as "substantial business opportunity." As with most information online, recipients are not interested in wading through a lot of hyperbole to get to the facts. Hise also notes that it is important to be up front about being a company trying to sell a product, if that is your purpose, rather than posing as just another interested user. Her suggestion is to post a message asking if a specific commercial post would be acceptable to participants prior to posting the commercial article. Using newsgroups can be a simple and rewarding method of finding out more about industry and competition. Used with sensitivity and purpose, they can also serve as an inexpensive path to marketing, sales, and business opportunities for a small business. BLOGS Another tool that may offer similar opportunities, again, if used with sensitivity and frankness, is the blog. The term blog is a truncated version of the earlier weblog. A blog is basically a journal that is published on the Web.

The activity of updating a blog is called "blogging" and the person who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated frequently, if not daily, using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Another key component of blogs is that they link to other sites and blogs. In this way, bloggers communicate with one another, establish online communities, and comment on topics and subject in the news. In 1999, the first blogs appeared, still called weblogs at the time. There were, in 1999, a few hundred such sites but software came out that same year which made it much easier to create a blog and the number of blogs began to grow rapidly. Although nobody knows for sure how many blogs exist, all estimates place the number in the millions as of early 2006, 27 million according to Forrester Research. The community of bloggers, the blogosphere, is large and growing. This has tempted businesses to try and take advantage of this new community to reach out through it to potential customers.

Although blogs by their very nature occupy a noncommercial Web space, many believe that businesses may be able to use blogs to establish a communications avenue with customers and reach those who influence opinion through popular blogs. So far, there are few business blogs but that is changing quickly. Through a blog a business can disseminate information about its products and services, gather opinions from customers and try to mold brand awareness through interaction with popular (well read) blogs. But, as Ben King explains in an article on the subject published in The Financial Times, making a weblog or blog is not simply a matter of sticking the word blog at the top of a column of chatty copy on a normal business Web site. Blogs are more complicated vehicles. "For the better corporate bloggers, the key to success has been to adopt the same software tools as the consumers they are imitating'¦. Of course, these tools do not guarantee a successful blogging project. No one will read a blog that is not interesting, and no software yet devised can guarantee that.

The rapid spontaneous back and forth discourse of the blogosphere is not an easy fit with the slow, cautious approach favored by most corporate marketing departments." King recommends that any company wishing to open a serious dialogue with bloggers be ready to study the blogosphere, to be as open and frank about their objectives as possible, and to use standard software packages to develop the blog site. Blogging is still relatively young. Whether it develops as a useful new tool for business entities has yet to be determined. Blogging is, however, something that entrepreneurs should follow as an interesting online development and one that may become useful in a business's effort to reach out to its clients. And, many companies are profiting from the blogosphere already, by teaching other companies how to use blogs. Forrester Research, for example, offers a two-day seminar on the subject. They explain the need to learn about blogs this way: "As customers increasingly tune out traditional advertising and turn to new communication channels to fill the void, companies must learn how to join in the conversation. Moreover, besides connecting companies and their customers, blogs are also becoming an invaluable collaboration tool within companies to facilitate knowledge management and cross-functional communications." The blogosphere appears to be a trend worth watching.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Blood, Rabecca. We've Got Blog: How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture. Perseus Books Group, 2002. "Boot Camp—Blogging Fundamentals: Building a Business Strategy." Forrester Research. Available from . Retrieved on 13 April 2006. Coates, James. "Hamstrung in Search? Give USENET a Try." Chicago Tribune. 20 July 2005. Ellsworth, Jill H. and Matthew V. The New Internet Business Book. John Wiley & Sons, 1996. Glossbrenner, Alfred, and John Rosenberg. Online Resources for Business. John Wiley & Sons, 1995. Hise, Phaedra. Growing Your Business Online. Henry Holt and Co., 1996. King, Ben. "A Company Voice True and Clear, Corporate Blogs." The Financial Times. 12 April 2006. Pethokoukis, James M. "Chatting With Customers." U.S. News & World Report. 27 February 2006. Whyte, Ellen.

"Knowing and Joining Newsgroups." Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 10 November 2005. Advertisement Newsgroup | Article about newsgroup by The Free Dictionary Newsgroup | Article about newsgroup by The Free Dictionary Computing a forum where subscribers exchange information about a specific subject by electronic mail newsgroup [′nüz‚grüp] (computer science) A collection of computers on a wide-area network that form a discussion group on a particular topic, such that a message generated by any computer in the group is automatically distributed over the network to all the others. Also known as forum. newsgroup (messaging) One of Usenet 's huge collection of topic groups or fora . Usenet groups can be "unmoderated" (anyone can post) or "moderated" (submissions are automatically directed to a moderator , who edits or filters and then posts the results). Some newsgroups have parallel mailing lists for Internet people with no netnews access, with postings to the group automatically propagated to the list and vice versa.

Some moderated groups (especially those which are actually gatewayed Internet mailing lists) are distributed as "digests", with groups of postings periodically collected into a single large posting with an index. Among the best-known are comp.lang.c (the C -language forum), comp.arch (on computer architectures), comp.Unix.wizards (for Unix wizards), rec.arts.sf-lovers (for science-fiction fans), and talk.politics.misc (miscellaneous political discussions and flamage ). Barry Shein <bzs@world.std.com> is alleged to have said, "Remember the good old days when you could read all the group names in one day?" This gives a good idea of the growth and size of Usenet . See also netiquette . newsgroup A discussion group on the Internet as well as a source for MP3 files and images. Newsgroups make up the Usenet (user network), which preceded the Web by more than a decade. Starting in the late 1970s, newsgroups were message boards for Unix technical issues. However, they continue to prosper alongside Web-based discussion groups called "forums" (see Internet forum ).

Although a topic can be newsworthy, newsgroups have nothing to do with the daily news. Organized into categories, alt (alternative) contains the most diversity (see newsgroup categories ). The Usenet Network There are tens of thousands of newsgroups originating from many sources and hosted on many news servers. A small percentage are moderated either by a human or a software agent. An ISP may offer newsgroups to its customers, either by hosting them or funneling them from another source, although the ISP decides which ones and how long they remain online. Dedicated Usenet providers do not discriminate and store most newsgroups indefinitely. NNTP and Newsreaders The NNTP protocol is used to transport newsgroup content, similar to the way HTTP is used for Web pages (see NNTP ). Newsreader software (an NNTP client), which may be a stand-alone application or an e-mail or browser plug-in, is used to search for and subscribe to newsgroups as well as read and post messages. When a user posts a question or comment, the chain of replies is called a "message thread." See Usenet , newsreader , Deja.com , syndication format and newsgroup categories .

Question: What is a message sent to a newsgroup in the Internet called?|
Answer: Article